The Italy captain was caught in no-man's land early on, allowing Mats Hummels to poke goalwards only to see Andrea Pirlo scramble the ball off the line.

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Polish striker Robert Lewandowski has been linked with a move to the English Premier League and central defender Mats Hummels is routinely mentioned as a potential target for Barcelona.

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And when Jakub Blaszczykowski stretched their lead four minutes after the break from a pass by defender Mats Hummels it looked all over a victory for the men in yellow.

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Juergen Klopp's men should have added to their tally but with 13 minutes left Mats Hummels fouled Kevin Volland to concede a penalty and also limped off with a turned ankle, leaving him a possible doubt for next week's final.

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Former Bayern defender Mats Hummels headed the hosts ahead in the 10th minute from Nuri Sahin's free-kick, but Mario Gomez leveled 10 minutes before halftime as the striker made up for an earlier miss from Arjen Robben's cross by netting from close range.

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